Making the Transition from Disaster Relief Medicaid to Permanent Health Coverage: Focus Groups with New Yorkers

Disaster Relief Medicaid—a temporary health insurance program implemented after the World Trade Center attack—removed many of Medicaid's customary enrollment obstacles and succeeded in signing up about 340,000 New York City residents. Only about one-third of these enrollees, however, have made the transition to permanent coverage in public insurance programs. For this project, focus groups held with enrollees in Disaster Relief Medicaid, including recent immigrants, will help determine why some are making this transition while others are not. They will also identify the barriers that prevent low-income residents from getting and keeping health coverage. Lessons drawn from this project could help stimulate efforts in New York and elsewhere to streamline public coverage programs for adults and children.

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Grant Details

Grantee Organization:
Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, Inc.

Principal Investigator:
Michael Perry, M.A.

Award Amount:
$100,800.00

Approval Date:
November 11, 2002

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Mission

The mission of The Commonwealth Fund is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults.